BELLEVUE, WA – Williamsport, PA Mayor Mary B. Wolf has quit New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s “Mayors Against Illegal Guns” coalition, telling the Second Amendment Foundation in a letter that she joined in hopes of finding “community based solutions to reduce gun violence.”
However, in a letter to Bloomberg – a copy of which Mayor Wolf forwarded to SAF founder Alan M. Gottlieb – she told Bloomberg, “I have learned that the Coalition may be working on issues that conflict with legal gun ownership and that some actions on your behalf are dubious.”
Mayor Wolf joins several other mayors who have withdrawn from Bloomberg’s coalition. Last month, after Bloomberg’s office was advised by the Justice Department against conducting any more “gun shop sting” operations, Gottlieb sent an open letter to all mayors who had joined the anti-gun group, urging them to reconsider their involvement, which might be associated with Bloomberg’s vigilante anti-gun activities.
“I am grateful that Mayor Wolf took a second look at Bloomberg’s coalition,” Gottlieb stated, “and that she thoughtfully advised SAF of her decision. Like several other mayors who think for themselves and the constituents who are their friends and neighbors, Mayor Wolf has demonstrated the kind of leadership that will set her apart from those who have been beguiled by Bloomberg’s media hype.”
In her letter to Gottlieb, Mayor Wolf said that, in her opinion, “It was always clear that licensed gun dealers, sportsmen, gun collectors and other similarly situated individuals were not part of the problem…”
Meanwhile, in her letter to Bloomberg, Mayor Wolf was straightforward, noting, “The intent of the coalition was well-founded but current initiatives seem counterproductive to…reduce the criminal misuse of firearms.”
“It takes a special quality and a certain amount of political courage to go against the current of political correctness and media favoritism,” Gottlieb said. “Hers is the example that fellow mayors ought to follow, not Bloomberg’s.”